Along with the concerts, speeches, panels and other events coming our way as part of Empowerment Week, stages around the city will abound with theater that casts a spotlight on the civil rights movement and, in several cases, the events of 1963.

Here’s a look at theater events planned for this week. Some are official Empowerment Week events, and others just fit the theme:

“Letter From the Birmingham Jail.” Red Mountain Theatre Company kicks off its statewide tour of this play with a free performance Thursday, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the RMTC Cabaret Theatre, 301 19th St. North.

“To Kill a Mockingbird.” The Virginia Samford Theatre presents the play based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in a small town in Alabama. Rodney Clark of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival stars as Atticus Finch. Celeste Burnum co-stars, and Jack Mann directs. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Sept. 22. Tickets: $25 and $30; call 205-251-1206. .

“While the World Watched.” A staged reading of a new musical by Don Garrett and Jay Tumminello based on the memoir by Carolyn Maull McKinstry, a survivor of the church bombing. At the RMTC Cabaret Theatre, 301 19th St. North on Friday, Sept. 13, and Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. $10.

“Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963”: Project 1 Voice, a national initiative started by Birmingham native Erich McMillan-McCall, presents a reading of Christina Ham’s play about the victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. The first reading will be Sept. 15 at 12:30 p.m. at the Alys Stephens Center as part of an event that also includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Tickets are free and available by calling 205-975-2787. A second production will take place Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at Ramsay High School, 1800 13th Ave. South, presented by Ramsay, the Altamont School and Phillips Academy. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for students. In addition, the Virginia Samford Theatre will screen the live stream of the event from Washington's Kennedy Center Sunday at 5 p.m. (Admission is free).